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Cola

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Posts posted by Cola

  1. Cards are definitely due for a complete rebrand, but I think they need to stray away from an update of this cardinal logo again. The expression yours is making looks like he's more uncomfortable versus intimidating or mean. I also think there is a little too much line work going on for what should be a simpler logo- the rear of the head flows a bit odd to my eyes.

     

    I'm also not sure of re-introducing gold in place of yellow. They should own the red/blue/yellow and maybe allow yellow to be more prominent.

    • Like 1
  2. The Rays just need to move to downtown Tampa and get this whole "what if" thing over with.

    Now with that crazy St. Pete mayor out of office, I think some real progress can be made.

    The Bolts never have attendance issues downtown in a market (or plainly, a complete region of the US) where hockey isn't exactly the hot topic at the sports bar. They still thrive somehow and I think it is because of the surrounding population and accessibility to all.

    Maybe all of this "what if" talk is good and is what the Rays organization wants...maybe it is just a bargaining chip in getting the city of St. Pete to let go and realize this team isn't the St. Pete Rays...it's the Tampa Bay Rays. I have a slight inner conflict in where I do believe a contract should be honored, but this is just getting ridiculous.

    I really just think a lot of people outside of the area don't understand how much there is to do around here besides a baseball game or other sporting event. I mean, it is still 80 degrees here during the day...we aren't trapped in our homes from the cold and snow begging for a reason to get out.

    • Like 1
  3. Tampa to Orlando is like 4 hours with traffic as I recall. It's not close.

    Nah, its more like 2-2.5 hours.

    Geez. So one of you is bicycling and the other on a moped?

    I can leave Tampa, stop for a quick lunch, and be at Cape Canaveral in 2.5 hours...on the other coast of Florida.

    It should take you no more than 1.5 hours to get to downtown Orlando, MAX...I usually make it right at one hour, and I live just west of downtown Tampa.

  4. So I just saw this thread after posting in the "teams who need new stadiums" thread. First off, I have only lived here 3 years but I have strong opinions on this.

    The Tampa Bay market can certainly support a MLB franchise. The main problems you face here is:

    1. Population demographics. This is 2 fold. On one side, you have old people. They don't want to attend games and they hold back the rest of the area with their retirement-minded politics (i.e. they don't want to spend money anymore for the better of others). The other side is there are TONS of Rays fans in this area, they just all seem to be mainly 35 years old and younger. Time will help.

    2. Obviously, there are a hell of a lot of Yankees fans here. It is nearly a home game when the Yankees are in town. Near the same for Boston.

    3. Stadium location. No brainer. Like pointed out, most of the area surrounding the stadium is water. Having the stadium in St. Pete really puts the games out of reach for the Orlando/Disney crowd, the Lakeland population, and north/eastern Hillsborough County. I think a lot of visitors to the Disney area would take a day/night to hit a Rays game if it was feasible.

    4. Lack of mass transit. This goes back to the huge population of old people here, but look at the top attended MLB teams; they all have mass transit systems in place. Progress on this issue always falters because of the old population that move down here, feel they have "paid their due" in taxes in their former cities/states, and shoot the idea down. There are some awesome places in the Tampa Bay area that most people never get around to see because of transportation issues. Especially if you want to drink a beer and enjoy yourself.

    Now to me, the stadium isn't so bad. Not bad enough to keep people from attending. You are closer to the action than most MLB stadiums for a cheaper price, you are in the air conditioning, and you can bring your own food inside. Come on. I bought season tickets after 2 years of living here.

    Do I want a new retractable stadium in downtown Tampa? Heck yes. It would be closer to me, it would create jobs and business for my industry, and it would *hopefully* re-ignite the need for transportation systems in Tampa. I hope they build something small and practical...seat 30,000 day to day.

    Also, it doesn't get very hot here. Humid, yes, because it rains hard a time or two a day. If people in Atlanta are attending games in that heat, then Tampa Bay folks have no excuse. Georgia and the Carolinas are HOT. It has never hit 100 degrees in Tampa. There is a false "OMG it's hot!" thing about Florida in general I think because folks from up North move here from one extreme to another. Try living in Atlanta or Columbia SC for the summer.

    I don't want the Rays to move. I think the organization is awesome, Joe Maddon is awesome (although frustrating at times), the players seems to love being here, and I just think big time baseball makes sense in the Tampa Bay area. It will just take some time and a relocation.

    • Like 1
  5. South Carolina Gamecocks: I am a grad...and being from SC, it's a hell of a lot better than Purple and Orange!

    Washington Redskins: eh, when I was younger they were always on TV (before Carolina Panthers existed)...but I have a hard time caring for NFL, so my allegiance has decreased to near nothing.

    North Carolina Tarheels (basketball only): up until a few years ago, I watched almost every UNC basketball game televised and even went to a game and a baseball camp there. Again, the reason was because they were always on TV.

    Tampa Bay Bucs: living here 8 months so far and first time living in a city with a pro team, I am trying to adopt them as my NFL team...problem is, I have a hard time caring for professional sports in general. Mike Alstott was a fan of mine in high school...we played same position, wore the same number, and people said we looked alike. We will see how it goes.

  6. The problem is non conference match ups are decided years in advance, so it will take a few years to get these meetings up again.

    I say the NCAA should step in and mandate Texas and A&M, KU-Mizzou and Pitt-WV continue their rivalry no matter what.

    Not gonna happen. WVU's already got two out-of-conference rivalries to maintain (Maryland, which is actually a good competitive rivalry, and Marshall, which is pretty much mandated by the governor of West Virginia). TAMU probably won't play UT if they know the game will be broadcast on the Failhorn Network. And KU-Mizzou probably won't happen with the way Mizzou departed the Big XII.

    Mizzou wants to keep playing. It's Kansas who's being the whiny crybabies.

    But is Kansas really being crybabies? They are defending themselves and their conference, in a sense. Mizzou left for a money grab instead of honoring long traditions, so why should Kansas be expected to do the same?

    There are many rivalries that extend beyond conference opponents...UGA/GT, UF/FSU, Carolina/Clemson, SoCal/ND, etc.

  7. What some of you may not realize is that in most places, the season ticket base is roughly a 65-35 split of corporate-fans. In Tampa Bay, I have heard it is the opposite, with 35% coming from corporate money and 65% from fans. This is assumed due to the venue being in St Pete, with the majority of companies being based on the other side of the bay.

    There's a famous cover of The New Yorker that depicts "The New Yorker's Concept of Geography" or something, which consists of Manhattan in painstaking detail, followed by an abstract "Jersey" and the rest of America being inconsequential. We need to come up with The Rays Fan's Concept Of Geography, wherein St. Petersburg is separated from the rest of greater Tampa by a vast ocean marked "Here There Be Monsters," because apparently this is THE ONLY FREAKING PLACE IN AMERICA where it's moderately difficult to get to a sporting event.

    Does that comparison kind of fail when you think about the transportation system in each city? Honestly, if you live in the Metro NYC area...you're only a short walk away from a ride to the stadium.

    The Tampa Bay area is in desperate need of a public transportation overhaul...it ranks among the worst in America of air quality because of all the commuting on highways within the bay area. Unfortunately, it is a spread out area so public transportation takes a backseat.

  8. For the record, I don't totally blame the attendance on the last game on Rays' fans.

    You can't expect people to sell out a game at 2pm on a weekday. People (the lucky ones) have jobs. When the economy has taken the :censored: that it has, jobs come first.

    Scheduling can be blamed on attendance in this particular case.

    This is true, I know many people that bought tix to Game 4 last Friday (time was unknown then), then had to either sell them or eat the cost over the weekend because it became a 2pm start. Curse having four games on one day :P

    Would it really be that much to spread divisional series game over a couple games? The MLB can't use the excuse of gaining television revenue...it is going to be there regardless. If I was a team owner, I would be pretty pissed with being assigned a 2pm game. I honestly am surprised anyone showed up...what can we say about those that attended? They are employed and took vacation...or unemployed, skipped paying a bill, and scrounged up money for a ticket. Yeah, go MLB.

  9. After living down here awhile, my thoughts on attendance:

    - there are a lot of transplants and old people down here, most seem to be Yankee/Chicago/Boston fans first...Rays fan second.

    - the stadium is ugly and personally doesn't make sense for the beautiful surroundings. Yeah, it rains...but an open air stadium would draw more fans I believe.

    - another knock on the stadium is location. it's an hour trip for those that come from anywhere east of downtown Tampa...same for those in north Tampa or Tarpon Springs area.

    - overall, people seem to love the Rays around here...decals all over cars, shown in the bars, talked about at work, and people seem to enjoy attending games....when they do.

    Don't know why they have a lot of trouble getting fans, but I have to admit the stadium just kills it for me. Baseball doesn't belong in a dome...especially in a place where the weather and surroundings are beautiful.

    I'm more of a college baseball fan (college in any sport, honestly)...but I'm trying to get into MLB ever since I moved to Tampa. I grew up surrounded by Braves fans and in Brave country technically (they own the GA/SC/NC market)...but never felt they were representing me, much like the Panthers in NFL.

  10. I'm sure A&M has noticed that Arkansas, a program that they are roughly analogous to, has made 3 trips to the SEC Championship game in their time in the league and also been to a couple of major bowls. If Arky can do so, why can't they?

    Three trips to the SEC Championship game in 20 years is hardly something to aspire to.

    Considering there's 6 teams in the division, with a level playing field, each team would be expected to make the Championship game 3 1/3 times over 20 years. I'd say they're doing just fine.

    I was just about to post this. Not only that, but 3 teams have never been in the SECCG and until last year, that figure was 4...and 3 teams (Florida, Alabama, Tennessee) account for more than half of the appearances.

    It's no cakewalk.

  11. Didn't even think of duke/unc for big ten. I could see that. Fit academically and it's a a new footprint with nationwide appeal. Not good football wise, it would certainly weaken the conference in that regard.

    It's the "fun" of 2 years ago all over again!!

    That would take a complete collapse of the ACC. They won't leave the conference.

  12. http://outkickthecoverage.com/fsu-and-clemson-have-no-shot-at-the-sec.php

    Pretty decent article explaining my feelings, although I don't feel as strongly as he does about not including Texas A&M. While Clemson and FSU seem more like "SEC schools", they don't really bring anything valuable to the table that is worthwhile. Texas A&M brings an education factor, endowment factor, and the loophole into Texas recruiting grounds factor.

    I personally like to see teams "upgraded" from a poor conference to a stronger one if at all possible, rather than interchange across. This is why I personally feel that aside from TAMU, a team like West Virginia or even Virginia Tech (while not fitting into my "poor" standard) makes sense here for a second addition- because it is all about money and this would spread the market even further.

    I don't really like the idea of Oklahoma or Oklahoma State coming aboard...they just don't feel like SEC teams to me. I've just never cared for the style of play in the Big XII- an offensive back and forth race to 50 points against gravy defenses.

    I also liked the suggestion of Boston College heading back to the Big East (where they belong) and South Florida heading to the ACC. Makes more sense geographically, however that isn't how things are always done- or else it would make sense to have FSU, UF, UCF, and USF all in the same conference.

  13. Florida State and Texas A&M going to the SEC is getting more and more steam, according to Tomahawk Nation and Warchant.

    TAMU is a done deal, will be announced August 22nd. FSU is being talked about and sources say they would accept, pending an offer. However, look out for Florida to veto that move.

    I see Virginia Tech as a more likely candidate.

    Florida alone doesn't get a veto. Florida needs to convince 3 other schools to say no. That said, assuming Virginia's legislature doesn't throw up roadblocks, Tech bailing on the ACC wouldn't be too surprising.

    Oh, I know that. Florida would convince other schools to join in resisting, it has happened in the past.

    I just don't want this thing to get out of control (adding 4 instead of 2, causing a shift in divisions). No need to mess up a great thing.

  14. Florida State and Texas A&M going to the SEC is getting more and more steam, according to Tomahawk Nation and Warchant.

    TAMU is a done deal, will be announced August 22nd. FSU is being talked about and sources say they would accept, pending an offer. However, look out for Florida to veto that move.

    I see Virginia Tech as a more likely candidate.

  15. I have a printer asking me to put a 1/8" bleed all around on a poster I did for an organization that they are getting printed. The poster size is 11x17. Would it suffice to just to make the image size 11.125x17.125? I'm working in Illustrator by the way.

    The odd thing is they want it as a PDF so it's not like they can see the bleed marks or anything since it isn't a AI or EPS file they are getting.

    It seems in this case that increasing the image size proportionally by 1/8" of an inch on each side would make the most sense?

  16. I started a thread in the Request forum...but does anyone have a clue on this one? I feel like I have seen it before- the "C" looks familiar where it tails around at the top, but I wasn't positive. I was wanting to recreate this if possible. Thanks.

    Carolina-1.jpg

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